Surveying the Social Science Workforce

Karen WittenMartin Wall

BRCSS Conference: Social Sciences Research: A Celebration

Thursday 11th June, Wellington 2009

The studies

• 2006 and 2009 On line survey of university-based social scientists

• 2006/7 Portfolio Study – interviews with lead researchers and new and emerging researchers

• 2008 Research to Policy Case Studies– Working for Families– Housing Insulation– Immigration

Outline

• The 2009 survey• The social science research workforce - a brief

description• How research was funded in 2008• Inter and trans disciplinary research• How we collaborate and mentor • Incentives and barriers to research participation

2009 survey

• Online survey February/March 2009• Universities provided contact details of all PBRF eligible

social scientists (N=1,918)• Broad definition of social sciences• 1,122 responded• Response rate – 61%

The social science research workforce - a brief

description

The respondents

• Gender: Similar numbers of women and men

• Ethnicity: 70% NZ European & Pakeha, 7.5% Maori

• Age

– Two thirds between 40 and 60 years

– Significant ageing of the workforce between 2006 and 2009

• Highest qualification: 77% have doctorates (82% of men,72% women)

Disciplines

• Education 14%• Psychology 9%• Management 9%• Economics 8%

• Sociology 6%• Human geography 5%• Maori knowledge &

development 5%

Between 3-5% - political science, public health, anthropology, marketing, history, communications/media/journalism, law

Position by gender

How our research is funded

How is our research funded?Research funding 2009 % respondentsNo funding 27

Internal university research grant 44

Central Government Agency or Ministry 20

FRST 10

International Organisation/Agency 9

HRC 7

Community Organisation 7

Marsden 6

Private Sector Business 6

BRCSS 4

Regional or Local Government 4

Funding by discipline

Internal Univ

Marsden FRST HRC Cent. Govt

Reg./local govt

Int. Bus.

History 61% 18% 4% 0% 7% 0% 7% 0%

Human Geography

48% 10% 25% 15% 27% 10% 6% 8%

Law 55% 0% 0% 0% 7% 0% 21% 0%

Maori Knowledge and Development

30% 2% 30% 14% 20% 2% 11% 5%

Difficulty raising $1000 to complete research from University

sources

0102030405060708090

100

Lecturer/Researcher Senior Lecturer/SeniorResearcher

Professor/AssociateProfessor

Per

cen

tag

e

No opinion Not diff icult Somew hat diff icult Very diff icult Extremely diff icult

inter and trans disciplinary research

Inter and trans disciplinary research

• Trans-disciplinary - research activity that works across disciplines to build up a new body of knowledge.

• Inter-disciplinary - research activity that draws from

more than one discipline

Research activity in 2008 • 29% single disciplinary research

• 65 % inter disciplinary research

• 27% trans disciplinary research

• 19% single discipline research only

Research with non social scientists

Common clusters

• Ecology/environmental science/eg biological invasion/bio diversity

• Bio technology/neuroscience/bio engineering/ sports physiology

• Information and computer sciences/new technologies/human computer interaction

• Visual arts and architecture

Collaboration and mentoring

Capability building issues emerging researchers

• Better access to methodology training

• More mentoring from senior academics and researchers

• Opportunities for observing and learning by working alongside experienced researchers

Collaboration and mentoring: academic outputs

Collaborated on: Professor or associate professor

Senior Lecturer Senior

researcher

Lecturer/ researcher

PhD/Masters

a paper 35% 31% 16% 22%

a book chapter or book

24% 16% 9% 7%

a research idea or proposal

37% 32% 17% 18%

peer review of article or proposal

17% 17% 9% 7%

a paper/poster at NZ conference

13% 157% 9% 15%

a paper/poster at International conference

22% 20% 12% 15%

Participation and mentoring:academic life

Participated in: Professor or associate professor

Senior Lecturer Senior

researcher

Lecturer/researcher

PhD/Masters

a discussion on research theory or methods

41% 42% 30% 29%

a discussion related to career path or career opportunities

30% 22% 16% 17%

Incentives and barriers to research participation

Incentives and barriers to research participation

• Investigator initiated research: incentives– Allocated time to spend on research– Intrinsic appeal of research– Positive and encouraging research environment– Access to research funding– Other

• access to data

• opportunities for collaboration

• opportunities for knowledge transfer

• and participation in collegial networks

Incentives and barriers to research participation

• Investigator initiated research: barriers– Lack of time

– Nature of academic work • (teaching/admin detracting from sustained periods of concentrated

research)

– Lack of funding– Other

• overhead levels

• funder policies and practices and problems with ‘buying out’ teaching time

Incentives and barriers to research participation

• Contract research: incentives• Access to research funding• Intrinsic appeal of research• Recognition that research undertaken is

important• Opportunity to contribute to public policy

Incentives and barriers to research participation

• Contract research: barriers• Lack of time• Lack of funding• Short timeframes• Other

– unlikely to produce international refereed publications

– lack of recognition in PBRF

http://www.brcss.net - publications